Roaring Fork River Green Drake Hatch, The Colorado Angler – June 21, 2013
June 21st, 2013
With an intense and short lived peak run-off dropping about a week to ten days early, the first Green Drakes have been spotted on the Roaring Fork in Glenwood Springs. We have had boats on the river the past several days with solid results on both Dry/Dropper rigs as well as full on nymph rigs throughout the day. Dry fly action has been less intense during the day than the nymphs but, for someone committed to fishing adult imitations there is plenty of interest. If you really want to experience the crazy dry action you will need to stick around until the evening. Once the sun moves off the water look for fish to intensify their attention on the surface. This should continue to build right up until dark, as the Drakes will emerge until nightfall. Wednesday was the first day that we noticed a decent amount of emerging adults, starting about 7-7:30 pm and getting more numerous after 8 pm. Stay as late as you can safely wade or navigate the river, right now it is fairly light until just about 9 pm.
Currently the river is running a daily range between 1850 and 2250 cubic feet per second. This is a great flow for floating, yes it is still a little pushy at this rate but, a very good level for pulling fish from the soft water. Clarity is at two and a half to three feet and allows enough visibility to spot drops and submerged willows along the bank. The fishing is great from Carbondale to Glenwood. If you have all day, put in at Carbondale and take your time down to Glenwood, getting into Cemetery Rapid as the sun goes behind the hill. Then switch up to a double dry rig for the rest of the trip to Two Rivers Park. If you don’t have all day, try launching at Westbank between 4:30 and 5:30 for an evening float, again following the schedule for the Cemetery arrival. Fish your favorite Drake patterns in tandem or paired with a big Stimmy.